Persona: The Art of Dying
by Gala Secrets
Summary: Shadows are never truly gone and across the world, in an American college town, shadows being to move again. The Kirijo Group steps in, as they are wont to do, with Mitsuru and Akihiko training a new team to take them on. But there's something different about this breed of Shadows. Full list of triggers/warnings inside. This is Persona mixed with the Cthulhu Mythos. M for content.
1. Foreword

From the Desk of the Author:

Before the story begins, I want to point out that this is a very, very dark piece and it is the first in a planned 3-part series. The genre will be primarily Horror with humor and slice-of-life like the games. There's a whole list of trigger warnings that I'll be posting at the end of this so that everyone is aware of just what will be coming up in later chapters. For each chapter, there will be a warning for any triggers listed at the top. In order to accurately depict the personas being used, I will try my best to describe them as I will not be using any from the original series, at least not for the primary person as of the cast I have chosen. However, if my descriptions are not enough, or you would like a visual anyway, please message me and I will send you a link. Or, I will put a link on my profile to a Pinterest account with boards for personas and possibly other things, like character pictures. Should I do this, and I'm highly considering it, those boards will be updated with each chapter.

That being said, this story will not focus on the original casts for any of the games after the first part of this story. There will be appearances and possibly some cameos later on, but none of them will be the main characters of this series. Instead, this will focus on several Original characters and will be set in the United States, as opposed to Japan where the series is set. There is also going to be quite a bit of Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, which will be one of the main contributors to the horror of this story.

I am posting this separate from the first chapter to make sure that you lovely readers see this before continuing with this story of mine to make sure that you are prepared for what will follow. Like stated above, there will be individual trigger warnings for each chapter. If I miss one, please let me know so I can list it at the beginning of the chapter needed. Because while most of these are not my triggers, they are for others and I want to be able to give the appropriate warnings as needed for each chapter.

In a few hours, I will post the first chapter to make sure that everyone does read this ahead of time.

That being said, I hope you enjoy "The Art of Dying".

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**_Trigger warnings: language, graphic death, child death, suicidal themes*, mentions of suicide, attempted suicide, torture, graphic blood and gore, possible mention of sexual assault, and sexual themes._**

_*If you are not familiar with Persona 3, this is referencing the manner in which personas are summoned in this game in the franchise. Unlike P4 or P5, in order to summon your persona in P3, you must shoot yourself in the head with an Evoker that looks and feels like an actual pistol. As this is a canon mechanic for this particular summoning, after the first few displays of the P3 evoker/gun summoning, I will NOT mark that with a disclaimer as it will be used repeatedly throughout this story and this series._


	2. Chapter 1

**Trigger Warnings: language, death, blood, slight gore, slight, suicidal themes.**

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_"First thing's first: I did not intend to die, I swear..."_

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Chapter 1

August 17, 2***

All things considered, one could say that Move In Day was a success. Meaning that it was organized, there was chaos, parents were clingy at times, and dorms were no longer empty. So to celebrate the start of a new semester as well as welcome students to the campus, new and old, the university was hosting a late-night cookout to kick everything off as the first night of Campus Kickoff Week.

It was 9:45 at night and with the lure of free food, quite a few students were milling about the campus green around the clock tower, some catching up and some just there for the was live music, multiple grills going out on the campus green, tables and tables of snacks, and quite a few coolers of sodas for all the students that bothered to show. By 10:15, Addie, a rather petite blonde with a bob cut and looking rather tiny in all black, snagged a table a little further out so her and her friends wouldn't be overly crowded by all the freshmen that turned up, but near enough that the other girls were able to people watch to their satisfaction. Or rather, scope out the guys as they caught up after not seeing each other all summer.

Addie playfully kicked one of the girls under the table. "No! I am not going to just walk up to him and start up a conversation. What would I say? 'Hey I watched you all last year cause we had classes together and I think you're kinda cute?' How does that not sound stalkerish?"

Lydia, her long brown hair swept up in a bun and a figure to die for in a crop top and Daisy Dukes, cackled at Addie's blush and held her hand out while the other girls groaned

"Pay up, bitches! I called it!"

"Shut up!" She hissed at her friend and smacked her hand down.

Lydia's grin stretched across her face. "After that lovely tidbit you just gave me, Ads? Never."

"Ugh." Her head hit the table. " I hate you. I hate you all for betting on that."

A gal with a green pixie cut -Vicki, Lydia's girlfriend- pecked Lydia on the cheek and reached around her girlfriend to poke Addie.

"At least you know she's gonna split it with you. Though if you'd waited a week or two more, I'd have made bank on you."

"I hate you all. I'm getting drinks."

She barely stood up when two sets of arms draped across her shoulders and sat her back down.

"Nope! You're staying here and you get to tell us more about the guy you've supposedly been stalking."

Addie groaned. "Nope. Nu-uh. Not happening. Why don't you bug them-" she waves her hand at their approaching hall mates. "-or scope out the guys like y'all normally do?"

"Hmmmm." Jessica purred on her left. "Perhaps."

Jessi grinned on her right. "Or we scope guys and see if we can pick out your little crush?"

Addie said nothing and slumped in her seat on the bench while her friends ribbed her before moving on to more interesting topics as she clock chimed 11. Said topicsincluded, but were not limited to, guys- "Heeeey, I bet that kid is a freshman but daaamn he looks fine." "You've said that about the last five guys, Jess, including the one you said had a punchable face." "His face was only punchable after he started talking."- classes, roommates- "Ugh. I've got her this year." "Thought she was suspended after-" "Apparently not. Fuck my life."- and everything in between.

A couple of students passed by within earshot and the table of girls were more or less amused by the bit of conversation they overheard.

"So, excited to finally start college?!"

"Oh yeah. Super excited." The quiet words were practically soaked in sarcasm.

"Ah, don't be like that. Think of all the girls we get to meet!"

"Ah, yes. The fairer sex. I will keep that in mind."

Anything else was lost as they continued out of earshot and the girls broke down giggling. Then Jessi perked up.

"Oh heeeey. Check him out!" She rather discreetly, for her, pointed to an athletic looking guy milling around talking to a group of people.

They watched as he grinned at the group that formed not too far away from them a few tables down.

"Sup guys? How's it going? How was y'alls summer?"

It came out louder and clearer than the rest of the group, who were all milling around in excitement like they hadn't just seen each other recently.

Jess eyed him like a piece of meat- "Man, I bet he's got some muscles under that hoodie." "Ugh. Just shut up, you perv." "Make me!" "Fine. No baked goods for you." "Eep! Shutting up now!"- and Addie rolled her eyes with a snort.

It was 11:58. Addie stood up with and grabbed her empty plate, ignoring the other conversations that didn't concern her or her friends. It was all the same as the last Campus Kickoff Cookout. With eyes on the prize, she tossed her trash in the can and grabbed several cans of soda for the table since it looked like a couple more people had joined their table. It was 11:59. Passing the drinks out, she thought that maybe this would be a good semester.

The clock tower struck midnight right as Addie blinked.

The low bell toll hung ominously in the stagnant air, echoing across the jarringly silent campus green. The sudden stench of iron wafted through the air, lingering in nostrils and lingering on tongues. Where there was a welcoming summer sky, half-lit with stars and a full grown moon, a sickly green glow from a yellowing moon reflected off windows and ominous puddles slowly spreading along the ground. The green haze of light twisted soft, vibrant colors into semblances of dull, dying shades.

Horrified eyes widened as she processed that caskets loomed before her, instead of the people she knew. Ebony caskets with silver edging, standing tall and ominous on benches where people had been sitting, on the grass by the games, standing at the grills. Shaking hands knocked a cup of soda- but it wasn't. Something warm and wet trickled over her fingers, thick and sticking to her fingers as she jerked her hand back from the table. Her hand glistened red in the sickening green glow.

A single shriek tore through the unsettling moment of quiet with all the subtlety of glass shattering. It was the breaking of the proverbial dam as the disturbing new reality settled in across the campus. The tiny blonde scrambled away from the table, scrubbing her hand on her jeans to just get it off of my hand! Her bag thumped against her legs as her back hit something solid, a casket behind her that did not even rock with the force of her body and with the tiniest of cracks barely visible along the edge. She leapt away, heart pounding through her ribs and stomach threatening to riot.

"What the actual fuck?!" It was half whimpered, as it tore out of her throat and she bit down on her fist. Her other arm shakily wrapped around herself.

The resounding screams that echoed across the green informed her she was not the only one suddenly trapped in a demented version of their college campus. No one else seemed to know what was going on, either, as some collapsed in on themselves, rocking and crying in a way she was trying not to do. Others panicked and ran. But some stayed, yelling and banging on the looming caskets, or attempting to pull them open.

"What the hell, man!"

The popular Jock guy was surrounded by caskets, instead of the people he had been talking to. He yanked on the lids, really yanked, but they did nothing but just… be. It was pristine and eerie, no cracks or blemishes from the abuse before she watched him give up on forcing them open and move out of the group of caskets.

Something moved at the edge of her vision and she snapped her head to look. A black mass slinking across the ground with thin, rope-like tendrils grasping at the ones collapsed on the ground, not running away. Then she saw it. A black tendril slithering across the ground, through the disturbingly red pools of what she hoped was anything but blood, and she scrambled backwards, hopefully out of reach.

"What the fuck, what the fuck, what the actual fuuuck…" Her voice trailed off in a whimper as she backed away from the tendril-shadow-thing that couldn't quite reach her but continued slinking forward towards her as she kept backing away. She was really trying not to scream. Because if she screamed, she was pretty sure she wouldn't stop screaming.

"Get the hell away from me!"

Her head snapped towards the yell, a guy's yell, and she whimpered under her breath as she bit down hard on her lip when she stumbled over a rock and hit the ground. It was a split second of time but she noticed the girl in a leather jacket with long black hair ending in purple frosted tips running towards the yell and a guy with white hair in a hoodie following at her heels. Behind them was the athlete in the black hoodie that had been surrounded earlier, yelling at others to avoid the tendrils while he followed the other two.

She blinked and they were running at normal speed towards the yell. Shakily, she made herself get to her feet as her hand reached into her bag to grab her taser while ignoring the warm wet parts of her clothes from hitting the ground.

"W-Well… here goes no-nothing I guess." It wasn't the best way to motivate herself, admittedly.

Taser held in a white knuckle grip, she followed the other students only to see a kid attempting to fight off a thick black tentacle that was spiraling up his leg and squeezing as it went. The first two had already reached him, having grabbed him by an arm each as they pulled but the tentacle grasped and moved up his leg, unwilling to relinquish its grip.

"Fuck!" The white haired guy in the hoodie -both him and the girl in the leather jacket had lean muscles that she could see as they struggled- swore. "If I had known I'd be visiting a nightmare, I'd have stayed in bed!"

She fumbled for a moment; trying to put her taser back in her bag without dropping it was a slight challenge at the moment. The quiet, sarcastic kid she'd over heard earlier -she hadn't realized he wasn't replaced with a casket and definitely didn't know how he'd gotten from wherever he was to the kid so fast- leapt at the tentacle with a drawn knife as the kid whimpered and cried. Her hands shook. The athletic guy followed him up with a blade of his own while the first two kept trying to pull the kid free.

"If I had known this would happen, I'd have gone home early." The athletic guy swung down on the tentacle with his knife again.

Her hands continued to shake and she bit down on her lip. She told herself she wasn't going to do nothing. She dashed forward, legs slightly unsteady but she didn't fall, reaching out to help pull the kid. Someone else had the same idea as arms reached under the kid's arms to haul him by his upper body. Just as they had joined in to help, several tentacles snapped out of the surrounding darkness and swung at them while two others lashed out at the kid, one wrapping his waist and the other wrapping an arm, both beginning to pull and twist at awkward angles that slowly contorted the now screaming kid's body.

Addie scrambled to duck one of the tentacles lashing out at them and just barely managed to not get hit but at the cost of letting go of the kid. Same as the athletic guy who jumped back in with his knife though the other three were thrown across the ground. But somehow, the redheaded guy that she'd noticed sitting alone earlier had managed to hang on to the kid and not get hit at the same time while the kid was holding on with a death grip.

"Please, please, pleASE! DON'T LET ME GO! YOU CAN'T LET ME GO!"

Addie just stared in horror for a split second before she lunged forward to grab the kid, pulling as hard as she can to try to free him. A black tendril shot out from the darkness and wrapped his neck, slowly squeezing as it pulled back ever so slightly. A second creeped up his body, sliding under and over clothing, twisting around his body to snake up his arm, creeping closer towards them and using the kid as a bridge to them.

She shrieked and released the kid, heart in her throat as she shook. She was almost too late, she was almost caught, she couldn't-! The red head jerked back at her shriek and he let go just before the tentacle wrapped him as well, leaving it grasping at empty air above the kid's outstretched arm. The kid with his mouth open and gasping for air, with crying eyes pleading for help and fingers twitching in their direction.

"There- There's no chance of saving him! Everybody run!"

The athlete backed away, knife at the ready as he pulled at Addie then at the red head to get them moving, and she didn't think twice about backing away.

"Let's go! We can grab the other three and get away from here before it gets another one of us!"

She heard him, knew he wasn't speaking to her as he heard him head towards the three that had been smacked around like ragdolls. She knew he wasn't speaking to her because the other guy was in front of her, panting a little and staring at the kid, not moving back but leaning forwards as if he was going to try again anyway. He doubled over, screaming and grasping at his own head. There was a flash of light, a roar of wind and a blur of black-striped orange lunging towards the kid-!

The tentacles fell to the ground, chunks and pieces twitching and curling on the ground, but the kid was untouched as the blur vanished. The Redhead, still bent over, was gasping for air as he slowly took upright and she saw the way the kid flinched back, saw the terror in his eyes.

She gaped, not any more terrified than she already was by this point. "What in the actual hell…"

"What in the heavenly fuckin' hell…"

The quiet guy mimicked her, having come up behind them and with his knife out. He was staring in the same direction, and she watched as the guy grabbed the freed kid. Watched as he pulled the kid, dragged him away as more tentacles started crawling out of the shadows towards them.

She saw the quiet guy start backing away from the corner of her eye, saw the redhead helping the kid and she froze, eyes staring behind them into the dark.

Skittering sounds were growing louder from in front of her, behind the redhead and the rescued kid, and she took a shaky step back. Something was there, something was coming, something was in the shadows. It screeched as it jerked into the light. It's body jerked side to side as it skittered and shambled it's way across the ground on spider-like legs that moved out-of-sync and over each other. Tentacles spilled over from the top of the thing, like some demented vase full of vines that reached and grasped at any moving thing within its reach as it tilted and jerked with its out-of-sync movements. Those spidery limbs would cross the distance between them in no time at all and she began to scramble backwards to get away, knowing that the thing could swallow her whole if it got a hold of her given that it stood at twice her height at the least. Addie whimpered, and gripped her taser so tight her knuckles were white.

"Can you run?" The guy was looking at the kid he was dragging.

"Y-y-yes." Terror filled his voice and he wasn't even looking behind him.

"Then move."

They started moving and she backed up, staring at the creature, definitely starting to freak out herself. "Oh god. Ooooh my god…."

"I think it would be a good idea to run."

He was talking to her, pushing her to move, so she did, staying ahead of the kid but not by much. The guy took off, running ahead of them and expecting them to follow, which they did. Addie, being the least physically fit, was at the back but just ahead of the kid they rescued when the demon-creature-tentacle-spider let out a shrill shriek before charging after them on skittering legs.

"Hey! What's his problem?"

The athlete's question made her look back at the kid only to see him frozen in his tracks and his eyes rolled back in his head. She wasn't sure if the others could see it but she was close enough that she could see something was not right. His jaw was slack, limbs were hanging limply at his sides and it looked like something was… like something was moving under his skin. She watched in confusion, which quickly turned to abject horror, as his skin began to ripple and writhe like there was a mass of snakes just under the surface trying to find a way out. Tiny tendrils of black began to spread across his eyes like spider web cracks threading through glass just before it shattered.

"O-oh Christ. Guys. S-something isn't right."

Addie started backing up, instincts screaming to get away and pulse thundering in her ears as black-red ooze began to fill his mouth, leaking from the corner of his lips in a slow drip and splattering on the ground. The same black-red ooze began to leak from the corners of his eyes, run from his ears, from his nose. His fingers twitched and jerked, the writhing mass building and building under his skin like a slowly inflating balloon about to rupture, all centered around his throat.

Warmth splattered across her face, her hands. Large drops began rolling down from her hairline, down her neck, under her clothes. The stench of something partly rotten filled her nose as her eyes registered the red-black flecks all over her hands. She froze for a moment, a scream building up in her throat because ohmygodwhatthefuckitsbloodthisisbloodthisishisbloodohmygod-

"You gotta be shitting me." The quiet sarcastic guy's voice snapped her back to reality.

The ki- body was twitching, arms spasming while legs bent at unnatural angles to keep itself upright as tentacles writhed from a torn, bloody shirt collar, shredded bone and musculature tearing at the collar as it began to shamble towards them on twisting, unstable legs.

"What the fuck." The redhead, the guy that had run ahead, had come back and she knew he was pissed off, hearing it in his voice with undertones of confusion, without her having to look at his face for confirmation.

Then the demon-creature-thing and the ki- the tentacled hellspawn started to advance on them. She turned tail and ran as the redheaded guy- he had only one glove on, what the hell?- pushed her as he turned tail himself. She was still at the back of the group but managing to not fall behind. Then she blinked because there were two people fucking walking towards them looking calm and collected as if they weren't in some freakish hellscape like the rest of them. The red headed woman was wielding a red-bladed rapier in one hand and a pistol in the other while the white haired guy had on red gloves and a gun in hand as well. Both even looked like they could have been on a date with him in a white suit and black collared shirt while the woman had killer boots, a black skirt and a fitted white blouse. Or maybe organized crime with how comfortable they were walking through the red puddles of -holy fuck they were puddles of blood- the puddles like this was normal, like there was no reason to panic after seeing someone turn into some kind of tentacled zombie hellspawn right before their very eyes.

"That thing just killed a man!" He still sounded pissed, even running and out of breath.

Which they ignored and- they put guns to their temples! What the ever living fuck?! Addie did a double take as she looked behind her at the things, then at them. Were they just going to-?!

"W-What-"

They cut her off, speaking in unison, voices calm and collected as the stared down the creature and its shambling spawn.

"Persona."

They pulled the triggers.


	3. Chapter 2

**Trigger warnings: **_**language, graphic death, child death, suicidal themes*, mentions of suicide, attempted suicide, torture, graphic blood and gore, possible mention of sexual assault, and sexual themes.**_

**I talked with my spouse (who is editing this for me) and decided to list all of the triggers at the start of each chapter.**

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"_I did not intend to die and I did not want to die."_

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**Chapter 2**

With the pull of the triggers, Addie expected blood splatter and dead bodies crumbling like ragdolls. Not those… things. Not beings that materialized and took humanoid forms that absolutely decimated the shambling, skittering, tentacled thing by using lighting and ice to shatter it into tiny pieces that all crumbled into dust as if that unholy monstrosity had never existed in the first place. Nor did she expect the woman, all elegant nonchalance, to walk up to the tentacle spawn and literally dice it to pieces with her rapier as if it was nothing. The woman seemed completely unbothered by the soft thuds of flesh hitting the ground as she cleaned black-red blood off her rapier like it was no big deal.

"What… the… fuck…"

Addie just stood there, frozen in shock right by the sarcastic guy who apparently owned knives and had no issues using them. Neither did the athletic guy, come to think of it.

"Is, is that like the thing that you used?"

She saw the athlete lean over to the redheaded guy and the tension in her shoulders dropped just barely because, thank fuck she wasn't the only one who saw that. The older man, in that white suit that was somehow still a pristine white and looking like some mob boss or something, started walking away as the woman joined him.

"You six, come with us."

The man suddenly addressing them startled her enough to make her jump. No one said anything and the two kept walking, though they slowed down. The athlete- shit, names. She didn't know their names- shifted as if he wanted to follow them but glanced at the rest of them.

"I think we should listen to him." He didn't sound completely certain himself, though. "Everybody good?"

Addie looked around for a second before nodding. "S-sure."

If these people could get her out of this hellscape, she would follow them. Everyone else apparently agreed but no one moved.

"C'mon guys. Let's go. Unless," he paused, scanning the darker areas around them, "unless you want to come across another shadow."

They all moved. She wasn't sure what a 'shadow' was but the way he emphasized it meant it was nothing good. That plus the 'another' comment? She shuddered and hunched into her hoodie- god it reeked now and she really needed a shower to get everything out of her hair and off of her skin and oh god, would she ever feel clean again after this?- because that meant that the tentacle thing that had killed someone -oh god she had watched someone die, had watched their head explode, had _their head explode on her and now she was coVERED-_

A hand settled on her shoulder and she jolted, heart hammering in her throat.

"Hey, easy there. Slow breaths now. Focus on your breathing."

The hand had a glove and it wasn't the red of the guy in the suit so that meant it was a student, the one who summoned that blur of orange and black with a roar of wind. She breathed, in and out, nice and slow, and trying to ignore the cloying smell of iron in the air, of old decaying-. She shook her head, cutting off that train of thought and came back to herself, calmer but in no way calm. The hand on her shoulder was gone and he was walking just enough in front of her but in between her and the two people comfortable with this hellish reality.

"...those things and how did you fight them?"

The athletic guy must have started asking questions while she had started to panic.

"We will explain that later. Right now-" This was the first time the woman actually spoke to them and her voice was as cool and elegant as she looked. "-we are going to get you kids to the dorm we are watching over."

Maybe they were RAs, though they'd be stretching that and they did not look like students, not with that easy self-confidence and nonchalance, that air of elegance that most people ever dreamed of being able to achieve. She couldn't really imagine either of these people being in charge of a dorm hall, except perhaps at a boarding school with uniforms and rules aplenty. They left the campus, passed vehicles frozen on bloody roads with windshields and windows reflecting that horrid yellow moon, until they stood before a two story house that somehow was not completely ominous in the sickening light. The woman, apparently, had a different definition of dorm than they did. The redhead seemed to be checking the place out but her hands started shaking so she shoved them in her hoodie- the dirty, wet, _bloody_, _STOP-_ and wrapped them up in the excess material to try to get them to just stop shaking.

"Okay. We're at a dorm." The athlete was talking, seemed like he was good at the talking bit, at trying to get answers, better than her. "Now please tell us what we just experienced."

She stared at her feet, at the ground, don't look at her hoodie, don't pay attention to the off-color splotches of-

A lock, a door lock, clicked.

"Come on inside and we'll talk."

She heard the door open, heard the heels clicking on tile then mute- carpet, then- followed by someone walking in, the athletic guy maybe since he'd been at the front. But then her shaking had spread from her hands to her legs when she tried to walk and someone caught her when she stumbled, kept her from hitting the ground, helped her get steady before she started walking again; she wasn't sure who but probably not the only other girl -no leather jacket- or the sarcastic guy, the athletic guy or the white haired guy -no hoodie but the three of them all had hoodies, she noticed earlier on- so it was the redhead with one glove. If she could calm down enough to think straight, think clearly and not spiral down down down, she would thank him because suddenly she noticed that her legs were no longer shaking so severely because she was sitting on a couch and she didn't remember walking into the dorm-house-place to begin with. Focus, focus, she needed to focus, breathe- she bit her tongue and her head began quieting down.

"-aren't here to hurt you. My name is Mitsuru and the gentleman here is Akihiko."

She blinked, everything sliding back into focus and noticed the athlete sitting on one couch facing the woman- Mitsuru, she'd need to remember their names- who sat on another. Which made three couches with only three people sitting so that meant everyone else was standing. The TV hanging on the wall was angled just right so that she could see the door behind her. The red head leaned on the wall just by the door, and the sarcastic guy mimicked him on the other side while the other two just stood there.

"What about the things that appeared and killed the 'shadow'? Do they have names?"

God, he sounded more exhausted now than when they were walking. Her eyes flicked from the reflection to Mitsuru. From the corner of her eye, she saw the athlete lean forward before the woman had a chance to speak.

"Yeah. Tell us what happened and why we were a part of it?"

Her hands were still shaking in her lap. "And what… what happened to that kid?"

Akihiko, suit jacket tossed over his shoulder, pushed off the wall he was leaning on, patting the woman on the shoulder.

"I'm going to go put on some coffee and fix up some cinnamon rolls for the kids. Have fun, Mitsuru."

She blinked because that was a wonderfully executed escape if she ever saw one -she needed to use that on her friends sometime- and the kitchen he walked into was just beautiful. Mitsuru's sigh pulled her back.

"The things we use to combat them are called Persona. They are quite literally a piece of your subconscious."

Um. What?

"...And shooting yourself in the head brings them out..?"

Mitsuru waved off the athlete's skepticism. "It's an easier way to bring one out. Otherwise, you are left with a lingering exhaustion after just one summoning."

Oh. That would explain- her eyes flicked to the reflection of the redhead in the TV and came back to the center of the room.

"How do you do it?"

The brown haired athlete wasn't actually asking a question, body tense and leaning slightly forward with interest. Mitsuru's response was a gun on the table, the same one Addie had watched the woman put to her head.

"There are no bullets. You put the gun to your head and the act of accepting death by pulling the trigger pulls the Persona out."

For a moment, there was silence.

"There was a voice in my head…" Addie's eyes flicked to the redhead's reflection as he spoke. "It asked me if I wanted power to follow my conviction. If I shoot myself with that gun, will I be able to use that power again?"

There was a determined look in his eyes, eyes that were more than likely focused on the gun on the table. Mitsuru looked him over from her seat on the couch.

"So you were able to get one out of your own power. Explains why you look so pale and weak right now."

Harsh, but there was the confirmation that the blur was the same as the beings Mitsuru and Akihiko summoned, that it wasn't a one off.

"So we don't need our own gun? If I take that gun and shoot myself, then can I use one of those persona things you mentioned to fight?"

Mitsuru gave a slight shrug as her gaze turned to the only other person sitting down. "You might be able to get one out, or nothing might happen. The fact that you are functioning right now means you have the capability of summoning one, but are you willing and ready to accept your death is the question."

Addie tried not to flinch. It'd barely been a year-

"Are we gonna get attacked and are others gonna die again?"

"Yes." Her tone was very straightforward. "That is likely. If you are awake for one Dark Hour, then you will be awake for them all."

"If it means being able to protect somebody then I can do it."

Well, there's another person gung-ho for all this.

"Dark Hour?"

Addie stared at the gun, barely registering Mitsuru's response.

"It is a fragment of time that exists between 11:59:59 and midnight."

"How? How do you even know about this? And how are you so calm about it?!" Her voice cracked, hands shaking again and tremors creeping up her arms.

Mitsuru turned her full gaze on her for the first time. "We have been doing things like this for a long time. I currently run a company known as The Kirijo Group. We make weapons that are used to fight the shadows."

Addie abruptly sank back into the couch cushions, hands gripping each other while forcing her legs to try to remain still. That was a hard gaze to not wilt under.

"We need to be able to summon our own pers-"

Her gaze shifted to the athlete, the one pushing for more. "No. In due time. You force it now and you will go insane."

There was something in those words, just the tiniest bit of inflection, that implied something personal. Though whether the others heard it, Addie wasn't quite sure.

"If we are gonna have to do this again then I need to be ready next time." His hand landed on the table, supporting his weight as he leaned forward and half-crouching over the coffee table. "Train me. Please."

"Could we get some of those weapons?"

The sarcastic guy drifted forward, leaning on the side of the couch, eyes moving from the gun to the woman who leaned back and moved her gaze over all of them in the room.

"You," she looked right at the athlete, "will get a chance to do something." Her eyes shifted to the guy leaning on the couch. "We will make sure you are equipped before you are out in this again."

"I second the weapons motion. I am adept at kendo; a sword would be useful."

If she hadn't seen the redhead's reflection in the screen move, the proximity of his voice would have made her jump.

"As I said, you will get your chance. For now, this will be your new residence. We will have your things moved here in the morning."

"Are- Are there other options besides actual fighting? I've never been good at anything physical. I want to help but…" Face flushed, Addie bit her lip and looked down at her hands, the shaking visible through her hoodie.

"We will work with you." Her tone wasn't unkind, almost gentle really. "You remind me of a previous teammate of mine, so I have some ideas."

"What do you mean 'new residence'?" The sarcastic kid's tone took on a slightly defensive quality. "I live alone and like it that way."

Addie blinked and the words registered as she looked up.

"I have stuff to do in the mornings, but if you train me then I will have no problem living here. What do we do now?"

She'd been focused initially on the fighting and weapons but a new residence? "Wait, you're having us move in here?"

The kitchen was to die for….

"Well now that you are awake during the Dark Hour, do you really want to wake up alone and with one of those things staring at you?"

The silence was answer enough.

"Now. As for the question about the other student, was he touched or grabbed by a shadow?"

"He was grabbed." The other girl answered, arms crossed and leaning on the wall. "Grabbed by about 5 tentacles."

"Then that means he was possessed by the shadow."

"What do you mean possessed?"

Mitsuru's expression darkened slightly. "The shadow left a piece of itself that crawled inside of him, took control of him, then likely killed him, turning him into a shadow."

Addie's brain flashed back to writhing skin, begging eyes.

"But what about him in the normal world?"

She felt warm, wet, thick drops rolling down her face, her back, her neck.

"He's gone."

She saw the black-red ooze streaming from his eyes, his face-

"So what, people are gonna wonder what happened to him and he's just gonna wind up as a missing person's report? What about the people in the coffins?"

-splashing all over her hands, her face, her hair!

"Not exactly. When the other people wake up they will have no idea what happened and anyone that disappears during the Dark Hour is forgotten about by those not awake during the Dark Hour."

There was blood in her hair, on her hands, on her face-

"So were the only ones that will remember him?"

_-oh god she needed to get it off- _

"Essentially."

_-getitoffgetitoffgetitoff-! _Someone put their hands on her shoulders, a voice whispering and reminding her to breathe, to focus, deep breaths.

"Is it going to happen every night or do certain things make it happen?"

Slow breaths, in and out.

"It usually stops after certain conditions are met."

Focus on the couch, what you feel.

"For that night or for good?"

Breathe.

"If there is a way to stop it, why are you guys still involved?" He wasn't whispering now, but talking. Right. Focus, listen.

"If we can figure out why it is being caused, then we can stop it for good in a certain area. This is what we do."

"I will fight. I would rather not die to one of those things." His gloved hand was on her shoulder, and then it was gone.

"Who else is in?" The athlete looked around at them, stopping on the sarcastic guy leaning on the couch. "What about you?"

"Dude. Why single me out? I already asked about procuring weapons so obviously I'm in"

He shrugged. "The girl already said she isn't good at fighting but would try. I said I'm in, he said he's in. You hadn't actually said what you were going to do." He looked back at the white haired guy and the other girl. "And you guys haven't said anything at all."

The other girl raised an eyebrow. "Well you sure talk big."

The white haired teen just shrugged. "She's not wrong."

"So. What are everyone's names? I'm not the most sociable person but I'd at least like to know who I'm stuck in this nightmare with. I'm Alistair Redgrave."

Alistair, redhead with the glove; Addie tucked the information away.

"Ken." White haired guy.

"Lisa, older sister to this idiot." The other girl.

"Adelaide, but I prefer Addie." Her hands weren't shaking as much, thank god.

"Trevor." The sarcastic guy.

"I'm Rory." The athlete.

Suddenly, Akihiko set down a tray of mugs filled with coffee on the table, with creamer, sugar and a platter of cinnamon rolls.

"Good to see everyone getting along." He grabbed a mug and passed another to Mitsuru. "Eat up. There's more in the kitchen."

Ken immediately snatched up a mug and cinnamon roll as Addie grabbed a mug for herself, dumping plenty of cream and sugar into hers.

"Thank you." At least for the moment, her hands weren't shaking bad enough to spill the coffee as she downed her mug.

Trevor just shook his head, standing up and stepping away from the cousin he was leaning on. "I'm not really hungry. Just saw a guy's fucking head explode and grow tentacles."

Addie winced and gripped her mug, looking down.

Akihiko looked at Trevor over the rim of his own mug as he relaxed on the couch next to Mitsuru. "Food is good for you and the coffee helps keep ya going. But, if this is your first time you've been in an experience like this, I can't blame you."

"I feel like shit honestly. Hopefully a cup of coffee can help set me straight." Alistair grabbed his own mug, making it light and sweet as he leans on the side of the couch by Addie. "So thanks."

She heard Trevor scoff. "Yes this is the first time I've seen someone's fucking head explode. I don't understand how you psychopaths are sipping piss water and munching cinnamon rolls."

Addie flinched and set her mug down, hands starting to shake again.

"The same way that police can also eat donuts and drink coffee."

Holy shit, what Addie wouldn't give to be as unflappable as Mitsuru was right now. But she could try, right?

"Look, I'm pretty sure I'm not gonna be able to sleep tonight after," she took a steadying breath as she clenched her hands in an attempt to stop their shaking, "after what I-we saw. So I might as well stay awake and prepare for my classes."

"Classes? Fucking classes?! We are in an alternate dimension with shadow tentacle monsters and suicidal people that summon perso-whatevers. I don't know if y'all are in shock or something but this shit isn't okay. None of this should be happening!"

Alistair straightened up, face still showing signs of exhaustion as he faced Trevor. "An alternate dimension that no one else is aware of. Yeah, it's pretty fucked up. But we're here. If I wake up tomorrow and don't remember any of this, I'll make a killing writing a book. But if this isn't a nightmare, then I would rather not die."

Lisa dropped on to the opposite end of the couch that Addie was on, face drawn and pale as she slowly drank her own coffee while her brother sat on the arm of the couch, just as pale as Lisa.

Alistair continued on. "I pulled a giant fucking monster out of my mind to save a man then watched his head explode and try to kill us right after. Not easy but at least we are all in one piece."

Addie looked down and spoke up with a quiet, tired voice. "Pardon me for attempting to forget that I've had someone's head explode all over me." The tremors and shaking in her hands was starting to get worse, again. "I'm only here on scholarship so I have to worry about classes and grades."

Fuck, her hands just wouldn't stop shaking.

"School and a normal life are good things to keep up with. Go to class, make friends, go on dates, all that stuff." Mitsuru almost sounded like she was speaking from experience, maybe.

"Tch. I'd rather just fight monsters."

"I agree with Trevor." Alistair ran his bare hand down his face. "I'm sorry. I feel like I'm going to pass out. Where are the bedrooms?"

Akihiko pointed towards the hallway leading out of the living room and the stairs at the beginning of the hall.

"There are plenty of rooms for you each to have one to yourselves. Guys' rooms are upstairs, as are the guys' showers. Ladies, your rooms are down that hallway with your showers as well."

Trevor walked off immediately but Akihiko continued on.

"Everyone get some rest and I'll see you in the morning. There are spare clothes of varying sizes in each room so feel free to use them. We will get you guys outfitted for the Dark Hour tomorrow night."

Addie just nodded, sitting for a moment longer as the others went towards their respective floors.

"Addie," she looked up to see Mitsuru standing in front of her, face a little softer than it'd been all evening. "Pick a room and I'll bring you clothes from it. Showers are down the hall and to the left. You'll feel a little better."

She nodded again and made her way down the hall, dropping her bag in the first room on the right which just so happened to be right across from the showers. By the time she finally went to bed, it was an hour later with skin pink from hot water and vigorous scrubbing in an attempt to scrub the sensation of _something _off of her skin.


	4. Chapter 3

**Trigger warnings: **_**language, graphic deat**__**h, child death, suicidal themes, mentions of suicide, attempted suicide, torture, graphic blood and gore, possible mention of sexual assault, and sexual themes.**_

* * *

"_Just putting that out there."_

* * *

Chapter 3

Morning came too soon, in Addie's opinion, though it took her a moment to place where she was. She groaned and rolled over, shoving her face into the pillow. Fuck. It was real, her world was now doomed to turn into a hellscape every night from this point on. Trying to go back to sleep was unsuccessful so she grabbed her phone from the nightstand. 8:03 glared at her from the screen. Unlocking it, she went straight to her school email but nothing new had been sent yet. She'd been hoping that the professor in charge of her research internship would have responded by now, but apparently not.

She rolled over on her back, staring at the ceiling. Because walking out of this room, even though she knew everything that had happened last night was real, would just cement it. The opening and closing of a door near hers, followed by feet walking down the hall, meant that Lisa was up and about. She wanted to be a bump on a log today, to not acknowledge anything but that would be the cowardly way out. With another groan Addie got up and dressed for the day. Apparently she had slept like the dead since there were her clothes on the dresser by the door, fresh and clean.

Heading down the hall and through the living room to the kitchen, she made a beeline for the coffee maker and downed two cups back to back before making a third and drifting back to her room. She had textbooks waiting -two were already in her bag when she went to the Kickoff Cookout last night- so she could at least get a head start on her course readings, especially if her normal study time was going to be getting cut into by the Dark Hour.

An empty coffee mug and a discarded textbook later -not really but she had put a bookmark in the chapter she was rereading- her stomach growled as the smell of food wafted through her door. She blinked and checked her phone. 10:33 and several new email notifications. Scrolling through, she grabbed the empty mug and made her way back to the kitchen. Free breakfast? Yes please. Sitting down and grabbing a glass of orange juice, followed by another coffee because she was still pretty tired but not quite exhausted, a quick scroll through the waiting emails revealed mainly junk mail so she set her phone aside to make a plate of food.

"So, how did everyone sleep?"

She blinked at Rory, not having noticed him. Huh. She hadn't actually paid attention to who all was there and the answer to that was everyone. She'd noticed Akihiko and Mitsuru as she walked in, plus Lisa but not the others apparently. Which meant she was out of it because Rory and Alistair were sitting at the kitchen table with her. Given the lack of sickly yellow light -and panic attacks- everyone looked a little different. All of the guys had lean muscle and surprisingly, Alistair wasn't the only redhead but his was a lighter red whereas Trevor's was a rich vibrant red. Her gaze slid down to her breakfast. Clearly, she was the least physically fit one in the group and the shortest by a good 5 inches at least as the guys were all around the 5'10-6' range. Yeah, she was definitely the odd one out in the group. But at least there was some decent eye candy, as per her friends' standards. Maybe she could sneak some pictures to the girls at some point….

"Great actually," came from Ken who was tucked into the couch with a book while his sister Lisa just groaned as she dropped in to the couch next to him.

Addie just lifted her hand and waved it in a "so-so" fashion as she continued to eat.

"As well as I usually do."

Trevor had claimed the other free couch -Mitsuru was sitting on one and the siblings had claimed the other- with his laptop up and running.

"No the best sleep but better than bad, at least. This food is good." Addie nodded in agreement with Rory. "Thanks Akihiko."

She refilled her orange juice and watched as Akihiko shrugged.

"No problem. Cooking is a small hobby of mine."

"Do we owe you anything for food?"

"Nope!"

"Oh." He blinked at Akihiko. "Okay. Well thanks again, then. Not used to a free meal."

Mitsuru responded in lieu of Akihiko as she walked into the kitchen. "Well considering you students were just kind of thrust into this situation, giving you meals and a safe roof over your heads is the least we can do. My company should be in the process of moving your belongings as well as we speak, and we will be taking care of any rent or payments that you have so you don't lose any residences while everything is going on."

"That's a lot. Thank you."

Oh. Well, that definitely makes things easier but telling her roommates that she's moving elsewhere? And her hall mates? Her friends were going to be very confused and possibly suspicious because, well, last minute was not Addie's style unless it was something out of control. Maybe she could blame it on an admin screw up or something…

"That's great." Trevor's deadpan voice came from the doorway into the kitchen. "Really appreciate it but what about the part where we need to defend ourselves in 13 hours?"

That was a good point, and one everyone else acknowledged but would rather not have thought about at that moment. Her included. Just thinking about it made her want to get back in the shower and just _scrub_ because even though she knew it was gone, she was feeling phantom sensations the blood and ooze on her skin and it made her skin crawl.

Akihiko just waved his hand as he sipped his own coffee. "It's no problem, as Mitsuru said. It's the least we can do for you. And in regards to defending yourselves, be here once the Dark Hour hits. We will go over that at that point in time. In the meantime, go out and be college kids."

"I don't really go out."

Trevor grabbed a drink then spun on his heel and walked out, only stopping to grab his things on his way to his room. Akihiko watched him go then turned to say something to Mitsuru who shrugged and sipped her coffee. She wasn't close enough to hear whatever that quiet conversation was and with her levels of tiredness she wasn't exactly trying to find out.

Rory left first, snagging an apple as he left the kitchen. Then, once she finished and took care of her own dishes, Addie grabbed her messenger bag and left as well. First stop was her dorm for her laptop, not really worried about the rest since the Kirijo Group was handling the rest. Next was the student center for a quick glance through for any organizations that could catch her eye, no such luck this year, so she opted to grab the rest of the textbooks from the campus bookstore. Never hurt to get a head start and there were still books for five other classes she needed to grab anyways.

After that, the day passed relatively quickly and easily. She grabbed food and was content to pull up World of Warcraft to pass the time when reaching out to friends revealed that they were doing last minute scrambling and she was not getting involved in that this semester, thank you very much. They did meet for lunch and she mentioned that admin messed up, that she had requested off campus housing and that admin had _just now _approved it. Considering how often admin screwed up- from financial aid to housing to classes- none of them were surprised at all. Then they were all scattered again, leaving Addie to her own devices. Which, she was a curious person by nature and a budding researcher in her own right -well, an Art History researcher anyway- so she grabbed a seat in the corner of the student center and started digging.

Forums, news articles, you name it and she hit it, curious about the Kirijo Group. Of course, she found the general information about them being some international trade company. She knew there was more, no way that there wasn't with the whole Dark Hour business going on, but she'd continue that research later. It was going to be a long night and she was already feeling tired. Powering off her laptop, she went back to the dorm/house for a nap to try to alleviate a bit of the tiredness.

But, like that morning, her alarm clock went off far too soon. Instead of fighting it this time, she simply grabbed her laptop and went straight to the living room to try get a head start on her research papers for the semester. Seeing Alistair on his laptop, she figured she wasn't the only one.

"What are you two up to?"

She looked up at Rory who had wandered into the living room, apparently joining her and Alistair with a laptop of his own.

"I'm trying to go ahead and get a jump on any possible research projects for classes. If we're going to be doing this Dark Hour stuff, I won't be able to pull all nighters like I normally do."

"Playing World of Warcraft. It keeps me level headed."

She blinked at Alistair. Well, it was nice that she wasn't the only one who played WoW, which was new. Sure, the girls were always down for video games but usually things like MarioKart. So someone else playing WoW that she knew in person was kinda cool. Then somehow, her and Alistair roped Rory into downloading it. She wasn't getting that far ahead tonight, it seemed.

"I can see this Dark Hour stuff making classes tons of fun. Hope nobody has early classes."

Alistair glanced over at Rory. "Looks like I've only got afternoon classes. You?"

"I got mine in the afternoon too. Just easier for me."

Addie snorted. "Coffee is my godsend for a reason. Got morning classes Mondays and Wednesdays at 9 but everything else is afternoon courses."

She saw the wince from Rory. "That's not too bad? At least they aren't 7am ones? I do agree about the coffee, though. Couldn't make it through life without it."

At some point, Ken joined them in the living room and in WoW -shit, she knew three people in person that played!- while Lisa and Mitsuru relaxed on a free couch as the four of them nerded out.

"Well you guys have seemed to make yourselves at home and getting along."

She sounded rather amused, more than anything. Then Trevor walked in with a PlayStation console. A ps3 maybe? Perhaps she should probably grab hers from the storage unit, see which ones he didn't have.

"Anyone against me using the TV?"

She shook her head and the others responded in the negative, though Ken's was the most emphatic, per se -"The PC master race has no problem letting the inferior console race have the TV." "Oh so you're a douchebag. Noted."- then he hooked up his system up to the TV.

Lisa kicked her brother from her spot on the couch. "Quit being an asshat."

"Ugh. Fine. Sorry sis. My apologies, Trevor."

And they lost track of time. (They hadn't learned not to, not yet.)

The clock hit midnight and the world froze around them.

"...at least we won't have to worry about saving progress, I guess?" She tried to joke, more for herself than anyone else, but it fell a little flat.

"Now we can get down to business." Mitsuru stood up and moved so that she could see all six of them.

Trevor and Rory watched her attentively, the latter more excited than the former.

"Alright! Let's do this!"

Akihiko moved with a smirk, leaning on the wall just behind Mitsuru.

"Do any of you have weapons you are familiar with?"

The woman eyed each of them, giving Addie the feeling of being sized up and compared to some unknown standard.

"I'm good with knives and hand-to-hand." Considering his reaction the previous night, Trevor's response didn't surprise Addie in the slightest.

She bit her lip, already feeling lacking. "Does a taser count? If not, then put me down as a solid no."

Rory held up a fist. "All I know how to use. Unless a sledge hammer or an axe are options. Pretty good at swinging those."

Lisa shrugged. "I'm good at hand-to-hand."

Ken just looked up, slightly confused. "Huh?"

"I am proficient in kendo and with pistols." Alistair rolled his shoulders. "I am sure a real sword would be different but I am fine with either."

Akihiko hummed. "A real one is a lot heavier."

He looked the older man dead in the eye. "I am not lacking in strength."

The man just grinned and walked into the kitchen. When he returned, he began handing out weaponry, as if the two of them had already guesstimated at their weapon choices. Alistair was given a katana and her eyes followed him for a moment as he moved to a more open space to test it out.

"Not bad."

Trevor was given a pair of knives and for the life of her, she couldn't tell anyone what kind of blades they were. Then again, she wasn't particularly interested in them, either. Rory received a two-headed axe of some kind -looked like she was going to look into these weapons just so she could name them properly, good god- that apparently needed two hands to wield based on the way the athlete gave it a test swing.

"This is nice. I like this but can we use these weapons to fight the shadows?"

Mitsuru nodded as she observed the three. "Yes. They are designed with the purpose of killing shadows."

"Awesome. I'll have to practice fighting with this but I'll figure it out."

Then Akihiko's gaze fell on her and called her over, only to be handed a bow and a quiver of arrows. At least it wasn't a bladed weapon like the others had gotten so far. After last night, she was much more comfortable with putting distance between her and the shadows. It would take some getting used to, that was for sure.

"Well here's to hoping that my aim in real life will be just as good as it is in games…"

"Always time to practice if it isn't." Rory piped up.

She set the quiver down and tested the bow. "Good point."

Lisa was next, getting a set of combat glove-gauntlet things, foot guards -or foot pads?- and shin guards. Followed by Ken who got a spear of sorts and holy shit, when did they get a hold of weapons like these on such short notice?

"So what about those persona summoning guns? I have apparently unlocked mine."

Rory backed him up. "That's a good point. And what about the rest of us who haven't unlocked ours yet?"

"Alistair is the only one who gets one of these."

Mitsuru walked over and handed him a holster and a gun, the same as the ones she and Akihiko carried.

"You will get one when your Persona makes itself known, don't worry." Akihiko just shrugged.

"And how do we do that? I know you said its part of our conscience and we gotta be okay with dying but what exactly does that all mean?"

From where she was standing, Addie saw the way Rory's eyes shifted between Akihiko and Mitsuru whose only responses were a vague "Trust us, you'll know."

Alistair, on the other hand, was examining the gun/evoker that he was given. "So. I put it to my temple and fire? Anything else involved?"

"Completely accepting your own death."

Addie wasn't even the one with the evoker-gun and that statement did nothing to reassure her at all. She bit her lip and looked down at her new weapon, noting that Trevor was testing out his knives now that there was space for him to do so.

"So what do we do now?"

And then she noticed Akihiko pulling on his own gloves with a growing grin.

"Follow me!"

He took them back to the campus clock tower and gestured to the open space where the cookout had been. The scent of iron was still strong and the yellow light made the campus buildings appear a little warped and severely uninviting.

"And here is where you will get some practice."

Addie's grip on her bow tightened. This man was a lunatic because there was no reason for someone to sound chipper and enthusiastic about any of this. But there was no more time to consider it because there were creeping, crawling things that looked like flea-squid hybrids all over the campus.

"Do we kill them…?"

"Yes." There was steel in that quick response. "When it comes to shadows, it's always best to kill them before they kill you. These guys here should be easy enough for you guys to dispatch."

Addie eyed them with their tentacles trailing behind them as they crawled along on tiny legs with long antenna-like legs hitting out from their face. Trevor moved first, a single slash killing one of the crawlers and she readied her bow, aiming for another's head just as a third one lunged for Alistair. Both splattered, hers from an arrow and his from the katana. Well, she might have decent aim in real life after all. She couldn't see what Akihiko was doing but Rory, Ken and Lisa each got hits in as well, Addie noticed as she thanked every high power that she could watch from a distance. That distance also meant that she noticed that the shadows were not dissolving, not like the one from the night before. Rather, they seemed to melt into puddles. Puddles that were starting to come together, gliding across the ground towards each other without leaving any residue behind. The surface began to bubble, like something was just set to boil.

"Um, Mr. Akihiko, sir? Is that normal…?"

Addie directed his attention to the bubbling puddle with an arrow and then notched it. It was weird, she was really trying not to panic, and having a weapon seemed to be helping so far. So she notched the arrow just in case. Which was a good thing as the puddle hissed and surged outward into the shape of a massive snarling demonic dog with cockroach appendages wiggling along its body, three tongues spilling out of a set of split double jaws and skin that looked more like cracked asphalt than anything else. Shealmost flinched, seeing as how the creature easily came up to her chest.

Akihiko shook something black off his gloves and cracked his neck. "Look alive. This one can probably do some damage."

"Could not have guessed that. At all."

Her voice came out much more deadpan than she expected as she let the notched arrow fly. Well, her aim was still decent, as it sunk into its head. She notched a second as Trevor and Alistair charged with their blades drawn, Trevor reaching the shadow first and getting a good cut in before having to dodge a massive scaly paw swiping at his head. Alistair took the opportunity given and slashed the things arm open while Lisa entered the fray, driving a fist into its side. Ken on the other hand, seemed to have found part of the skin that was more scale than flesh as the tip of his spear glanced off of the beast's hide. Addie let her second arrow fly, arrow sinking into the shoulder as Trevor dove back in with his knives slicing along its hide. Rory followed him, swinging the axe into one of the hind legs as Alistair's katana found another patch of scales, causing the shadow beast to roar of not-quite and give off a bolt of electric discharge. Alistair caught the edge of it while Rory managed to get enough distance and Addie could see the way him, Lisa, Ken and Trevor flinched and hissed at the sudden shock. Her eyes narrowed and took her time to take careful aim, lining up her arrow with the shadow's eye. She held steady, Alistair driving his katana into the head of the thing, which didn't seem to bother it much as it shook him off. But once he was out of the way, she let the arrow fly, watched it hit the eye and just sank into the beast. It fell, dissolving into dust as it hit the ground until there was nothing left.

"I did not expect a low-level one like that to have magic." Akihiko did not sound very bothered, though. "Alright. Let's get you guys back to the house."

She nodded as everyone else gave various forms of agreement. There was a slight twinge in her finger, the twinge that usually preceded shaking hands, and she gripped her bow tighter hoping to stave it off.


End file.
